Monday, May 6, 2013

Engagement-a-palooza Party

Good morning!

Well, somehow I survived-- my three day weekend is at an end! It was a heckuva busy one, too...we threw our engagement party at my house on Friday, had a get together at my mom's house on Saturday, and spent most of Sunday hanging around going through the gift bottles of wine from Friday like they were going to expire first thing Monday morning. I AM A TIRED, TIRED HUMAN. But I did manage to remember to take a few photos to show you all what the party looked like! Wanna see?

I woke up Friday morning, briefly contemplated hitting at least one estate sale, and wrote my Photo Friday blog entry about my great-grandmother on my dad's side. After having some coffee and oatmeal, I sat at the kitchen table making a list of grocery items that I'd need to pull off the party food spread. We ended up having vegan strawberry cupcakes, white bean dip, and lentil Sloppy Joe sliders as far as the "actual cooked by me" part of the menu, and chips and dip, olives, strawberries, cookies, and candy as a "oh, this table looks lonely with just semi-healthy stuff on it!" last minute addition. All the vegan foods came from the Skinny B---- in the Kitch and Skinny B---- Everyday Cookbook, which I'm telling you, are i-n-d-i-s-p-e-n-s-i-b-l-e to my day-to-day cooking. To add to the vegan fare, Rae and Travis brought a chocolate vegan cake with the word "WERK" written in purple icing...this was a sight for sore eyes on Saturday morning, at which point most of it was consumed by Matthew and me over coffee for breakfast. BEST. BREAKFAST. EVER. Thanks, you guys!

I made these little paper doll standouts last week on my lunch hour, carefully tracing the outlines of some thirties' paper dolls and adding our features to their pre-existing bodies. They stood on the window sill above the kitchen table two by two. I love how these turned out! I didn't remember to give everyone their own as a souvenir, so if you left before you got one, remind me and I'll give you one of the stack of them we have left over, haha!

For punch, I just made up a huge batch of palomas, which is diet grapefruit soda, lime juice, and a whole bunch of tequila. Our friend Brian got to the house and went "Palomas! How could I have guessed!" because I seriously do drink these every freakin' chance I get (citing the likes of Ernest Hemingway as a fellow devotee of the margarita-like cocktail, by the way!). We had sodas on hand for the non-booze-drinkers, and a box of Franzia white zin (naturally, because we're classy like that).

I also put in a place of pride this framed drawing that usually sits on my bedside table. When Matthew proposed in February of 2011, the ring hadn't arrived on the day he made big reservations at a fancy restaurant, so while he did get down on one knee and the whole shebang in a public place, this little folded sheet of paper stood in for the ruby and diamond ring I've worn every day since it arrived the next afternoon. How sweet is this?! I love having little us-related artifacts all over the house.

Here's the man himself. Please note that his hair does not have any product whatsoever in it, nor has any styling past a quick shake of his head. It "just does that", no joke.

I was fed up with my own hair by Friday afternoon, so I just clamped a hat on over a braid. I love how this outfit turned out though! Very eighties' pop star.

I was so happy so many of our friends could join us! We played Motown all night (you really can't go wrong with a six hour playlist of sixties' R&B and soul) and had a lot of laughs. It's always slightly surreal to have more than four people over to your house, and I think at one point we had something like twenty-five! It was wonderful to see so many people as excited as we are about us gettin' hitched. :)

Matthew asked that his high school friend Robbie and I look like we'd just heard the funniest joke in this picture, so that accounts for our goofy expressions.

My friend Jesse from work and his wife Kirsten (in yellow) and sister Drew (in blue). I don't know what Matthew told them to look like in the picture, but the thumbs down from Kirsten is my new favorite go-to pose.

Here's newlyweds-themselves Emily and Orion, who are moving to this side of town! I look forward to playing more horribly-wrong card games with them in the near future. Alyx and Brian brought Cards Against Humanity, and probably my favorite part of the night was a fifteen-people strong series of rounds of this game, with the ensuing groans and giggles over HOW BAD some of the card selections can be! How bad were they, you might ask? Check out the pdf you can download for free on their website! THAT. BAD.

It was a fabulous night! I had a great time and remembered why it's so important to try to get together social events like that more often...all the people I like in one place! With food and drinks! Isn't that the very soul of convenience? I have to start being better about throwing ragers, obviously.

So! What did you get into this weekend? Find any great stuff at the sales? What are your must-have party foods, drinks, or games? I'm always looking for good suggestions!

I guess I have to get back to work now....ho-hum. Hope you guys have a fabulous Monday, and I'll see you tomorrow with more vintage tips and quips. Til then!

Haha, thanks! I love having a party and then remembering why I like to have parties as a result of said affair. Plus, how nice is it to wake up the next morning with hors d'oeuvres for breakfast and a clean house?

They are de-l-i-c-i-o-us. Almost too much so! The only pitfall is that Kroger runs out of dang Big K diet grapefruit soda (the actually perfect thing to mix it with) so sometimes you have to sub in Squirt. Try 'em! It's a fabulous summer drink.

The bride and grooms are the cutest! They really look just like you all. Also, I saw the werk! cake on instagram and it was the best. It looks like a good time! DO you get super stressed about hosting parties for yourself? I TOTALLY DO!

Thanks! I used to get a lot more stressed but now, I try to keep the prep down to something manageable and to remember the main point is not to work yourself to death, but to show your friends the hospitality of your home. Every time I throw a party, I learn another thing or two about how to do it better. I should be an expert by now, but I'm still learning, haha!

Thank you! I'm so pleased with how the dolls turned out. And Matthew's a really good little artist. He doesn't draw nearly as often as he should, but I love collecting the evidence thereof when he does! :)

Thanks, Van! Haha, you should have seen my pained, Betty Draper like expression when I realized I had completely run out of chairs. But I'm learning to take the whole hostess thing less seriously, and they didn't mind sitting on the floor, so I guess all's well that ends well!